You’ve heard it over and over again…show, don’t tell. In Sharon’s program, Telling communicates facts; Showing invites understanding, she will give us insight on how to engage readers by putting them in the character’s world. Showing helps the reader experience the story through actions, words, thoughts, senses, expressions, feelings and conveys your story in more of a visual presentation.

Sharon is a retired road musician and has written songs since the age of fourteen. She became interested in writing novels and short stories in the early 1990’s and joined ORA in 1992. Sharon has served as the ORA President, Vice President, and Secretary, and for four years she was the Conference Coordinator. Ozarks Romance Authors is like home to her. She is also a member of Springfield Writers’ Guild, Ozarks Writers’ League and Sleuths’ Ink Mystery Writers.

Her latest novel, The Will and the Wisp, is historical fiction based on a true story. Though she writes mostly romance, Sharon says, “Venturing out into the mainstream world with my co-author James Armstrong has been a great experience.” She and James are shooting for spring 2016 for release of the sequel The Voice in the Wind.

For three years, in the mid 1990’s, Sharon published an e-zine, Short Stories Magazine, which featured local authors. She gave it up because grandkids started to come along and she felt family time was more important.

However, Sharon has helped writers self-publish since 2002, and in 2012 decided to start her own indie assist publishing company. She now has four imprints – Paperback-Press, Kids Book Press Publishing, e-Book Press Publishing and (with her husband’s recording studio to accommodate) Audio Book press. Being an indie assist publisher has been a learning experience to say the least. Nonetheless, with over sixty books, of all genres, published over the last three years she is proud of her accomplishments and the growth of the company.

Please note that for the August meeting, ORA will be meeting at the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library, 397 E. Central St., Springfield, MO. The speaker begins at 1:00.

Join our critique group from 10 a.m. to Noon. Want your work reviewed by talented writers and published authors? Bring twenty copies of up to five pages of your work to share for critique or just listen and offer advice.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 2015 Weta Nichols Writing Contest. Submissions are now closed. Winners will be announced at our annual conference on September 19, 2015 then posted on the website.

Submit the first chapter (up to 2,500 words) of your unpublished novel to win prizes and a chance to be read by the agent or editor serving as our final judges. Louise Fury, an agent with The Bent Agency, will judge Historical and Young Adult/Middle Grade. Candace Havens, Editorial Director with Entangled Publishing, will judge Contemporary and Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

Contest is open to both published and unpublished authors, but the piece submitted must be unpublished (traditional, self-pub, or e-pub) and not under contract to be published. Entries are open genre and not required to contain romantic tones. Categories in which entries may be judged are:

Historical

Contemporary

Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Young Adult/Middle Grade.

Membership in Ozarks Romance Authors is not required in order to enter. There will be three prizes awarded in each category:

In her presentation “Learn how to craft dialogue that carries power!“, Lisa will show us how to:

• Check your manuscript to see if your dialogue has the essential ingredients of great dialogue.
• Weed out the most common dialogue flaws.
• Learn techniques to craft dialogue that will emotionally impact (manipulate) the reader.

Lisa Wells is a 25-year veteran educator. For the past 18 years, she’s enjoyed a rollercoaster journey called: The School Counselor – Dramas, Dreams, and Destinies. Add the theme song to Jaws, and you have the feel for this fun ride.

Author of DIBS, a sexy romance, nominated as Debut Book That Rocks and Best Book of The Year, Lisa believes writers should never quit studying their craft. Her Dialogue class was born out of a treasure trove of information she discovered while studying dialogue from a screenwriter’s perspective.

Represented by Literary Agent, Tish Beaty. In August, her book THE SEDUCTION OF KINLEY FOSTER will be released by Entangled Publishing as part of their What Happens in Vegas series.

ORA meets in the Frisco Room at The Library Station on N. Kansas Expressway in Springfield, MO at 1 p.m.

Join our critique group from 10 a.m. to Noon. Want your work reviewed by talented writers and published authors? Bring twenty copies of up to five pages of your work to share for critique or just listen and offer advice.

Ramon Ballard will present information about querytracker.com. You can learn how to use the site to your best advantage. Find out how to find agents, query, and track your queries.

Bio:I grew up in Salt Lake City and was invisible throughout my schooldays (due to my shyness). I had the lonely child’s habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons. Invisibility has definite advantages, especially when combined with a vivid imagination. I created magical fantasy worlds with magical inhabitants.

Time does not stand still. Fantasy worlds evolve into mundane, everyday life. As I grew older, my whimsical travels to far off places diminished and my invisibility slowly faded into visibility. All foolish realms were forgotten, pushed to the farthest regions of my mind. I grew up, but a small part of my mind, the part stuffed with imaginary worlds, refused to get older. I must have a Peter Pan soul.

I would tell the stories, once only heard by my imaginary friends, to my own children. Alas children, like time, do not stand still, and grow too old for such nonsense. But, I still loved my stories and would tell my wife that one day I would write a great children’s novel. One day my life was changed forever when my wife told me to “shut up and write.” It seems that life has a way of going in full circles. Late at night, I find myself having conversations with imaginary persons.

The rest is or will be history.

ORA meets in the Frisco Room at The Library Station on N. Kansas Expressway in Springfield, MO at 1 p.m.

Join our critique group from 10 a.m. to Noon. Want your work reviewed by talented writers and published authors? Bring twenty copies of up to five pages of your work to share for critique or just listen and offer advice.

Please show up, support our members, and make sure it’s a fun night. There is no charge to attend First Friday Art Walk. You will have the chance to meet these authors, purchase their books, and have them signed. We look forward to seeing you!

Everyone loves to see movies, but are there lessons to be learned for an author in them? Christopher will cover screenplay structure, dialog, and scene structure. Christopher is a Writer-Director for a National Insurance company, handling all of their video corporation, as well as an independent screenwriter. He has thirteen years of experience in this field and ran his own company for independent film for five years.

ORA meets in the Frisco Room at The Library Station on N. Kansas Expressway in Springfield, MO at 1 p.m.

Join our critique group from 10 a.m. to Noon. Want your work reviewed by talented writers and published authors? Bring twenty copies of up to five pages of your work to share for critique or just listen and offer advice.

Wayne will be speaking on Great Beginnings: Start your book with a bang. His webpage is waynegroner.com. Stay tuned for more info!

ORA meets in the Frisco Room at The Library Station on N. Kansas Expressway in Springfield, MO at 1 p.m.

Join our critique group from 10 a.m. to Noon. Want your work reviewed by talented writers and published authors? Bring twenty copies of up to five pages of your work to share for critique or just listen and offer advice.